• 💰 Barcode’s New Investor
• 🍸 Long Drink Leans On No Sugar
• 🌊 Oceans Argues For Outsourcing
• 🏭 Chobani’s New Plant
• 🧑‍💻 Junglee Cracks Cultural Cocktail Code?
• 🆕 What Else Is New?

This is one case where drinking and driving kind of go together.

With its third edition kicking off in Denver last month, the No/Low Tour, presented by for-profit industry group Focus on Health, aims to spread education, awareness and best practices for the red-hot adult non-alcoholic (ANA) and low-alcohol space. They’ll be making six stops at industry events across North America.

Speaking with BevNET last week, Focus on Health co-founder Alex Jump said the group is eager to continue doing what’s worked for the Tour so far, but now with a bigger guest list: This year the tour is splitting the non-alcoholic drink menu at each one of its stops with a curated group of standout bars from around the country, representing “people that our industry looks up to and who are regarded as top of the craft.”

That includes national award-winning venues like Papercut in Austin, Denver’s The Yacht Club, San Francisco’s Trick Dog, and Cobra of Columbus, Ohio, which is set to join the tour for  Portland Cocktail Week in October.

After two years of spreading the basics of ANA, this year’s education program features a master class from the guest bars about strategies for building a successful non-alc beverage program. There will also be a blind tasting of non-alcoholic spirits to help understand their optimal pairings and presentation on-premise.

It’s all part of a broader effort to deepen ANA knowledge and awareness on both sides of the bar.

For consumers, Jump noted, there’s been progress in helping them understand that ANA drinks are often as expensive as real cocktails — as long as that value proposition is evident. 

What Jump Said: “There are still going to be guests who are shocked that a non alcoholic cocktail is priced in alignment with an alcoholic cocktail and if you, as the bartender, can't explain to the guests the products that are going into [the drink] and the quality of the ingredients, then that drink is going to be a failure on your menu, or your non-alc program might be a failure”

Following the Tour’s end, each of the six bar-led educational sessions will be held for a second time in that bar’s home market, with Diageo sponsoring. 

Jump acknowledged that there’s “still a long way to go” with ANA education, but the Tour’s acceptance at booze-centric industry events like Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans speaks to a growing acceptance. 

Go Deeper: Mixers Find Synergy With Non-Alc Movement

The NBA playoffs are in full swing and performance water Barcode’s most recognizable player Victor Wembanyama might not be at this year’s tournament, but the brand has at least one new investor playing ball. Dunn Capital Inc. announced on social platforms that it has partnered with the brand. Terms of the investment round were not disclosed.

👏 Dunn Capital Partners, based in Utah and Florida, is managed by the Dunn family. According to LinkedIn, William Shane Dunn, Jaden Dunn and Preston Dunn are listed as managing partners.

🆕  Preston Dunn posted a photo of Barcode’s new Wembanyama flavor, Cheatcode, in his announcement of the investment partnership.

🏀 Barcode spent 2024 expanding its distribution network into Florida and Texas (among others) while lining up new sponsorships with NBA teams 

Stay tuned to BevNET for an update on Barcode’s growth plans.

Ready-to-drink cocktail, the Finnish Long Drink, has jumped on better-for-you trends with a sugar-free variety pack released today. 

• The 12-pack collection features a mix of Citrus, Peach, and Pineapple flavors, all zero sugar, zero carbs and 99 calories. 
• The debut comes nearly six years after Zero Sugar Citrus debuted, becoming a “fan favorite,” according to CMO Kyle Bradshaw, who added that there is now an unprecedented demand from drinkers for zero sugar options that aren’t seltzers. 
• Since its U.S. debut in 2018, The Finnish Long Drink has expanded to 46 states and recently launched in Canada, and has ranked as one of the top-selling RTD brands.
• High-performing wellness callouts among bev-alc products are “free from high fructose corn syrup,” “no sugar added,” and “free from additives,” according to a recent NIQ report.

Catch Up: How the Finnish Long Drink Became One of America’s Favorite RTDs

Tariffs and the ongoing trade wars revolve (in part) around the idea of onshoring jobs to the U.S. When it comes to the CPG industry, outsourcing some roles overseas is more than just cutting costs but also about building efficiencies within the business that are not feasible domestically.

🇱🇰 Oceans, which recruits its talent from Sri Lanka, was founded to source roles for the tech industry but has found a sweet spot working with emerging food and beverage brands.

🧾 Unlike some other recruitment operations, Oceans draws a pool of candidates who have studied abroad and/or worked in operations for larger multinational companies like Unilever or Nestlé.

💭 “Typically, this isn’t: ‘I need to cut costs so I’m laying off all these people and hiring Oceans.’ These are tasks that weren’t getting done, put on the back burner or a new need, like closing a big account, that suddenly requires all these extra hours that founders don’t have,” said Oceanss founder and CEO Ian Myers.

Read how brands like Cheers and Sanzo have utilized outsourced talent.

Chobani is investing $1.2 billion into a new dairy processing plant in Rome, N.Y. The move comes one month after the Greek yogurt maker announced a $500 million expansion in Twin Falls, Idaho. 

🥛 Upon completion, the 1.4 million sq. ft. facility will house up to 28 production lines to process roughly 12 million pounds of milk per day. Additionally, the plant is expected to create over 1,000 full-time jobs. 

💭 “With our new plant in Rome and our original home in South Edmeston, we’re entering a new dimension, partnering with hardworking people across the heartland of New York to build an ecosystem of natural food production,” said Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO, in a statement. 

Catch Up: Chobani Grows Idaho Production Footprint

It’s not often that the genesis for a canned cocktail is a home-cooked dinner, but that’s the case for Junglee. 

⚖️ Inspired by their family meals, friends Vishal Patel and Parit Pathak launched a line of “Indian craft cocktails” in 2022 and are now learning how to balance a cultural product with the constraints and demands of the market.

🔀 After realizing their initial target market plan was flawed, the founders pivoted to leverage their bold South Asian design and flavors to craft messaging for the “culturally curious.”

🌳 They also see their roots as an entryway into another growth category, and plan to build off the Ayurvedic knowledge of the diaspora to launch a non-alc cocktail line this year.

Insiders can access the full story.

💚 Suja Organic introduced a new Sunrise Greens beverage that uses cold-pressed juice from apples, lemon, cucumber, spinach, chard and collards.

🤷 Chamberlain Coffee forged an unlikely partnership with Dove on its new Plant Milk Cleansing Collection. Chamberlain’s L.A. café inside Westfield Century City Mall will be serving a limited-edition Oat Milk & Berry Brulee latte inspired by the scent and feel of Dove’s new body wash. 

🎤 Singer-songwriter Maren Morris has become Reign Storm Energy’s latest brand ambassador as part of the female-positioned energy brand’s Live Life Better campaign.

👭 Flavored sparkling water brand Splash Refresher has teamed up with “Pitch Perfect” co-stars – and real-life best friends – Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson on a new playful Besties campaign.

Want more marketing news? Take a look back at our latest roundup.